4 SIMPLE TRICKS TO IMPROVE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA IMAGES

1. It’s all about composition (angles, storytelling, people):

Before taking the photos always look at the composition. Composition is a game changer, taking an image and making it look more interesting. For example, our instinct is to point straight at an object and shoot, however, if we were to change up the angle and scale it will allow the image to look more interesting.

Having people in your photos is a great way to tell more of a story. It lets the audience’s mind unravel, taking them on the journey of what is actually happening in the photo.

2. Keep the flow (theme, style, niche):

Photographers will tend to stick to a consistent theme when it comes to their Instagram and Facebook pages. The reason for this is because photographers think of themselves as artist and showing a consistent feed allows their body of work to look like a gallery. This is far more appealing than random images that just do not work together.

Keeping the flow will come down to finding your niche; your topic of choice. Let’s use “By Way Projects” to demonstrate a niche (see below).

“By Way Projects” displays lifestyle and travel content. It allows people to visit the page (i.e. Instagram) and know exactly what type of page they are following by the content exhibited. This allows you to draw the audience you want to attract and thus increasing your likelihood of audience engagement (likes, comments, follows, etc).

There are many apps that you can download to enable you to keep your feed consistent. VSCO app (see below) is an app that allows you to add filters onto your images. This means that you can easily keep your content related. Apps like VSCO are great when you don’t have access to editing software programs like Photoshop and Lightroom.

3. It is not the equipment that makes the shot, you can take a good photo with a phone:

There are so many people out there that say “It’s all about the equipment” and “anyone can take an amazing photo with a good camera” but it doesn’t quite work like that.

Amazing photos can be taken on phones, Gopros and DSLRs. The equipment you have on you at the time is the best equipment. You may find yourself in situations where you say “gee I wish I had a camera to capture this”……….. but wait, you do. If you have a phone then you have a camera. It is better to give it a go with what you have than miss the opportunity. You’ll never know unless you give it a go so start shooting!

4. Your images need some love (editing, apps etc):

Have you ever taken a photo only to look back at and think “this photo does not do it justice”. Well that is when the power of editing comes in. There are many ways to edit a photo from Lightroom to phone apps to adjusting settings on your camera.

A great way to adjust your photo is by using Lightroom. With Lightroom you have the power to edit using a whole dynamic range of tools. There are also apps out there that will accomplish similar outcomes, such as Filterra or Adobe Photoshop Express.

The above example is a before and after of using editing to enhance your picture. Here are some handy steps on how this editing was accomplished.

The white balance/exposure needed to be adjusted as the before image is dark and cold and we want it to be warm and bright as it was a sunset.

The jumper of the individual in this image needed to more visible so the shadows were brightened.

Some vibrancy and saturation were greatly needed in this image. By adjusting vibrancy and saturation the image will appear more colourful. The key is to add a small amount of saturation and add more vibrancy because the saturation can start making the image look unrealistic.

The sky in the before image was super white and blown out so the highlights were reduced. This allowed for the sky area to have more detail.

A final go over never hurt so the settings were checked and final adjustments made.

So just remember composition, flow, equipment and editing when next trying to achieve your best social image post. Happy snapping!